The Purifier changes history

by Lyda Durango

As a cultural heritage of humanity, the historic center of the city of Puebla, in Mexico, is accustomed to restoration and conservation works. However, a hotel proposal that in turn involves a historic building from 1884 is a novelty that goes further. It is the opportunity for the ancient and the modern to merge under the magical baton of the Legorreta + Legorreta architects' office.

From the ashes

Puebla is a city that is located 136 kilometers from Mexico City, a destination by nature for the inhabitants of the capital. Its historical legacy is its main architectural and tourist resource. Thus, as part of the Master Plan "Paseo San Francisco" that contemplated the recovery of the area where workshops and factories were previously settled, an adequate use was sought to the old building where the water purification plant worked.

"The building was very damaged, it was a ruin," recalls Víctor Legorreta, of Legorreta + Legorreta Arquitects, who together with his father Ricardo Legorreta and the architect Pablo Serrano was in charge of the challenge of converting a ruin into the first boutique hotel of the Habita Group in Puebla. "All there was was a bay and two stone walls," he adds. There was born the greatest challenge for architects who as part of their philosophy sought to respect the history of the place but making it a modern construction. "It was very interesting to work around that bay and those walls to make a modern hotel," says Legorreta Jr.

The interest would increase when the operation of the hotel was in charge of the Habita Group. The trajectory of this group of young hotel entrepreneurs would be for Legorreta + Legorreta and Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos a guarantee of the success of the architectural project. "We were very excited because they have always had a lot of emphasis on design and have hired good architects," says Víctor. The good teamwork would be complemented by the management carried out with the National Institute of Anthropology and History to recover the memory lost after the ruins.

Preserving history

An exhaustive review of the building where an ice factory where water was bottled and purified operated for many years allowed to recover many of the elements that would give the historical touch to the remodeled building. "The resident archaeologist found many original pieces dating from the period of 1,800 as bottles and glass, the same ones that were incorporated as part of the graphic design and visual communication of La Purificadora", explains Rafael Micha, from Grupo Habita.

Stones, beams and water bottles were part of the memories that would take on new life thanks to the philosophy of Legorreta + Legorreta. "In the buildings we have restored we have always tried to recover the things we found from the past and we strive because the new things actually are, I think it is that combination that gives a lot of interest to the project," explains Víctor.  

The challenge then seemed to be how to combine those old elements with the new ones. To achieve this, the beams found in the building in the columns of the central courtyard of the lobby were used. And to match the colonial architecture of Puebla, typical balconies were built but in steel and glass. Not everything could be easily emulated, recalls Legorreta Jr. Therefore, in the attempt to make the doors like those of the eighteenth century there was a different nuance. "There was no information about what it was like nor did we have the artisans to make them so we think it was more honest to make a modern door but always being respectful of the scale and material," explains Víctor.

Color is history

Although recognized for the use of bright colors, the office of the architects Legorreta thought this project almost monochromatically. The colors used throughout the hotel are black, white and a touch of purple on the furniture. "In front is the convention center that has a lot of color and inside the building we had a series of elements such as stone and wood walls," victor recalls. "Then we felt like there was already a lot of visual information," he adds.

The decision was then to apply a "killed" white, that is, with a little mustard to highlight more the spaces and the existing architecture. Touches of color were applied to the armchairs and some of the entrances to the rooms. This combined perfectly with the use of archaeological stone (from the original construction), old wood (recycled from the vaulted ceilings), onyx (from the nearby village of Tecalli) and the special slabs reminiscent of talavera pottery, complemented by intense lights, open spaces and water.

The natural elements

Ricardo Legorreta, spearheading the project, has become famous in part for the use of bright colors, natural light and monumental spaces. "His intense use of light, open spaces and water, together with his consideration for Mexican culture, simplicity and a modern sense of design are elements that have earned him international recognition," says Rafael Micha, of the Habita Group.

Being faithful to a style and thanks to the fact that water was the raison d'être of the original building, he has managed to combine it with light and air to give a new dimension to the open spaces of La Purificadora. An example of this is the pool on the third floor and the water mirrors in the lobby that surround the chef's table.

Additionally and taking advantage of the privileged climate of Puebla, the architectural project contemplated a good use and benefit of the atmospheric conditions. "We wanted to make covered spaces but outdoors, which avoided the use of air conditioning and heating," explains architect Víctor Legorreta. "So the idea was to make a very open link between the inside and the outside. For example, the patio is modern but inspired by the traditional courtyards of the colonial houses of Puebla," he explains. This involved making very high ceilings, which was complemented by campfires around the places to sit. "The same thing happened with the roof terrace, what we did was put a roof on it, leave it open and that it could really work as an open bar, in the same space where the pool is," he explains.

The result of this search can be seen in the lounge terrace located on the fourth floor of the hotel that offers beautiful views of the city. In addition to the pool of 30 meters long, with transparent plexiglass walls, designed by the artist Laureana Toledo, daughter of Francisco Toledo.

"What we have tried to do is design the outdoor spaces not with the conception that they are spaces that are left over but that they are spaces to be more, as if it were the living room. In La Purificadora, the lobby is a small space, it is actually a patio, an outdoor space. Hence what we did was to study the furnishing, how the guests were going to sit, what pieces of art were going to be put on to turn it into a space to be and not an outdoor space without function, "says the architect Legorreta.

More creativity

Having recycled such an old building gave some lessons about saving, conservation and creativity. "In the traditional architecture of the colonial era there was no air conditioning or heating," says Víctor. "At that time, high ceilings, materials such as stone, wide walls and insulating materials were used and the orientations were studied to be able to use the spaces perfectly," he explains. "So we ended up doing an ecological architecture without becoming great high-tech sophistications, it was more about common sense," he adds.

Víctor Legorreta especially highlights the fact of having used an existing building instead of a new construction. "When you make a new building, you  start from a series of walls, in ways that already exist and you have to adapt to them," he explains. In the case of La Purificadora, the result of having worked with an existing construction is an asymmetry that is very interesting: many of the angles of the walls are not 90 degrees "but are chuecos walls," says Legorreta. There are also corridors that start at 1.20 meters and end at 2, some parts of the walls are made of stone and others are flattened, "all those things gave a lot of interest to the project," he reiterates.

Therefore, after seeing the results of the architectural work of La Purificadora, Víctor is convinced that creativity is actually in knowing how to adapt. "That's a lesson for architects this century to learn," he says. "We have to learn how to recycle buildings and not pretend that everything new is done on the outskirts of the city and leave the centers, that's a big mistake."

Profitable, by nature

La Purificadora, from ice factory to boutique hotel, shows that modernity and history can merge without renouncing the avant-garde. This is how this legendary structure took on new life and promises much more.

With the use of natural light, high ceilings, wide walls and emphasis on public areas La Purificadora is on the verge of a successful operation. This is the opinion of the general management of the hotel who is pleased by a beautiful and highly functional hotel. "It's a very easy hotel to operate," says Miguel Angel Puerta, general manager of La Purificadora hotel.

The result is an environment that until now this tourist destination did not count on. "Chimneys, waterfalls, natural materials, spaces open to the outside and a great sense of volume", are the characteristics that in the words of Miguel Angel Puerta summarize why La Purificadora not only changed the history of Puebla but also became a monument to beauty and function.